SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – New research out of UCSF may make some people think twice about e-cigarettes and smoking marijuana.
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Contrary to popular belief, a UCSF study has found that any type of vaping or smoking can lead to heart problems, not only cigarettes.
The researchers gave rats the equivalent of one smoking session a day using tobacco, vapor from two types of popular e-cigarettes and marijuana smoke with and without cannabinoids.
"In all of these cases except for the air, rats that breathed an air, we saw a decrease over the eight weeks of cardiac function, the ability of the heart to pump properly. We saw structural changes in the heart at the end, so there was a lot of scarring in the heart," said senior author Dr. Matt Springer, a professor of medicine at UCSF.
He told KCBS Radio they found changes in the rats' nerves and heart rhythms as well. "I think we've done such a good job of convincing people that inhaling tobacco smoke is bad for them that they assume inhaling anything else is better and even harmless, but we keep seeing that's not the case," Springer explained.
The heart changes appear to stem from lung irritation in general, not directly from the tobacco itself.
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